Turtle Rescue Cairns - Saving the Sea Turtle

Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre was established as a facility designed for treatment of ill and injured turtles in Far North Queensland and Cape York Peninsula. The centre works towards the recovery of threatened marine turtle species in conjunction with a local veterinary clinic. Since 2002, 21 turtles have been successfully rehabilitated and released in the region where they were found. Unfortunately 24 turtles have died during attempts at rehabilitation, a not unexpected result when considering the poor condition of these animals when brought into the centre. The majority of the stranded animals brought to the centre from Great Barrier Reef waters had ‘floaters disease’ with only one suffering from fibropapilloma virus. Qantas -Link Airlines has assisted in transport of turtles from the west coast of Cape York Peninsula where the Napranum Land Protection Unit rescued many stranded turtles. These have been injured due to entanglement in ‘ghost nets’. Injuries can be so severe that flippers have been lost or had to be amputated.
Donations Can be made at:
Marlin Coast Veterinary Surgery
Cnr Aropa St & Cook Hwy, Trinity Beach, QLD 4879
Phone: +61 (0)7 4057 6033